


Wish You Would

by ishiplouis



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Kissing, Language of Flowers, M/M, No Smut, Plants, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Tattoos, plants lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 19:07:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15669423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishiplouis/pseuds/ishiplouis
Summary: Louis’ curiosity and enthusiasm for plants came when his first tattoo appeared on his right arm. Louis remembered it like it was yesterday. He was fifteen at the time, and a flax flower appeared in the middle of his upper arm overnight. At the time Louis just yelled in excitement that a flower appeared on his arm, waking up his mum who came rushing in his bedroom.“Boo, what’s wrong, love?”“Mum! Look! I got a flower! It’s my soulmate, they must be, I don’t know, they must be-” Louis trailed off before being interrupted by his mother.“They must be very kind.” His mother was examining his tattoo and smiled. “This is a flax flower, love, this flower represents kindness.”Or a Soulmates AU where your soulmate’s personality is tattooed on your left arm. Plants are involved, miscommunication too. And maybe a bit of love.





	Wish You Would

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prettyboyhwall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyboyhwall/gifts).



> Hello everyone and LovelyLoullaby! I hope you enjoy this fic, I'm the queen of changing prompts around but I think I got yours right and l made it justice (I hope at least!). This fic involves a lot of plants, in each fic I write I try to include a little bit about me and I am a huge plants lover so I hope you enjoy! I need to thank one person now, the organiser of this exchange who is actually my friend but didn't tell me she was organising this exchange (So secretive!!!!!!!) I'm glad I signed up for this even though I had already signed up for so many exchanges and fests this year, at least I got to work one more time with this wonderful person who happened to be the best beta EVER. Completely changed my world and made me believe I could write cool things too. Anyway this is getting long, thank you love, you're one of a kind :)

_ When I stare at you, it's unbearable _

_ I'm not a sucker for higher things _

_ I fear the gods are conspiring _

_ And who am I to deny it? _

_ I never wanted someone like this _

_ Thought I could fight it _

 

Wish You Would

Marian Hill

  
  
  


Louis was in awe.

 

The shop was just as described by his colleagues, a flourishing and luxuriant jungle. The first part of the shop was a spacious room dedicated solely to cacti and succulents, but the second part was what retained Louis’ attention. It was an incredibly tall greenhouse full of plants growing wild. The owner had definitely decided to let the plants grow however they wanted, and the whole space looked almost like a wasteland. Beautiful, extraordinary wilderness full of plants. Louis felt at home. His eyes were unable to pause for a while, it seemed like there were too many plants to look at. From his knowledge, Louis recognised fiddle leaf fig trees, zee zee plants and all types of dracaenas. Louis was overwhelmed by such a quantity and quality of plants in a single place; how in the hell had he never heard of this place before? He had been living in London for six years now, and never had he come across this place in his continuous quest to find the best gardens and green places in London. 

 

His curiosity and enthusiasm for plants manifested when his first tattoo appeared on his right arm. Louis remembered it like it was yesterday. He was fifteen at the time, and a flax flower appeared in the middle of his upper arm overnight. At that time Louis just yelled in excitement that a flower appeared on his arm, waking up his mum who came rushing in his bedroom.

 

“Boo, what’s wrong, love?” 

 

“Mum! Look! I got a flower! It’s my soulmate, they must be, I don’t know, they must be-” Louis trailed off before being interrupted by his mother.

 

“They must be very kind.” His mother was examining his tattoo and smiling. “This is a flax flower, love, this flower represents kindness.” 

  
  


And that was it - Louis was hooked. He learned all about flax flowers and found out they also meant domesticity. Which gave Louis goosebumps just thinking about it again. He figured that his soulmate must be as young as him at the time and already vibrating kindness, and domesticity only meant one thing in Louis’ mind: his soulmate was perfect. Louis was raised in a house where family meant the world. Family dinners, lunches, gatherings, Louis was all about it. He had six siblings now, and not a day was spent without speaking to his family. Deep down Louis knew that he would want the same for himself when it would be his time to have a family. At twenty-six, he definitely craved some domesticity. He had been single for more than a year now, making his friends and especially Liam desperate to see him with someone, but Louis was waiting. Louis was waiting for his soulmate.

  
  


***

  
  


A deep voice startled him out of his thoughts. The low murmur seemed to come from the back of the greenhouse, so Louis wandered towards this deep voice that became clearer and clearer the closer he came.

 

“I would suggest that you put your little guy near the window that gets the most sun. Your succulent is clearly starting to etiolate, which means they’re in need of way more light than they currently have.”

 

The man who was currently speaking to a lady who had brought two potted succulents in a basket seemed younger than Louis. He had long hair supported by a red headscarf, and he was in full gardener’s gear, brownish dungarees with knee pads and a white t-shirt.  _ This must be one of the workers here _ , Louis thought before being interrupting the lady with the succulents. 

 

“Oh, thank you so much, love, I’m going to try and I’m sure it’ll work out! By the way, my spider plant had its first baby yesterday. It’s all thanks to you!” 

 

“I’m happy they’re thriving, you should take a picture and show me, yeah?” 

 

“Will definitely do, thank you!” And with that the lady walked towards the exit, passing by Louis who still had his eyes glued to the man. So, not only was he younger, but he was also very pretty. The man had now lifted his head so Louis could admire the perfect features. Rosy glow on the cheeks, plump lips, sharp nose and cheekbones; Louis was mesmerised. 

 

“What can I do for you today?” The man asked another customer that appeared from nowhere. This one had a fern under his arm that had definitely seen better days. Not enough humidity, was Louis’ quick diagnosis. 

 

“Hello! I’ve heard of you from my mother, she said you’re the London guru of plants!” 

 

The  _ what _ ? Louis pretended to examine a ficus while he listened carefully.

 

“Oh I wouldn’t call me that, but it’s true that I can certainly help you if you have any trouble with your plant babies,” he chuckled in a knowing way. 

 

_ Plants babies _ ? What the hell? Louis definitely understood a certain attachment could occur to your plants, but they’re not your babies! Louis was starting to have second thoughts about the place when the employee showed up with what looked like a spray can - which reassured Louis that at least the customer was given good advice for his fern in need of humidity, hence the spray - that was gold coloured with little rhinestones on it that shone like diamonds. 

 

What in the world was this pretentious place?!

 

“Yours is so pretty!” The customer exclaimed in admiration, “It must cost a fortune!” 

 

“It was a gift for my last birthday, I have a friend who is a designer-” And that was enough for Louis as he strode towards the exit, furious. This place was clearly making a business out of something too pure to ever be a business in the first place. Nature was free, plants had their own rules and no matter how much money you spent on them, they would still end up doing their thing. Louis was infuriated he had even considered this place a fantastic shop, a  _ home _ .

 

He had one last look at all the customers gushing with much enthusiasm in front of the trendy plants and then stopped in his tracks. 

 

He needed to say something, do something, he couldn’t leave just like that. Those pretentious hippies needed to learn a lesson, understand that nature and plants were not just a trend or something to make money from. He turned around on his heels and marched back into the greenhouse. His steps led him to the hippie employee with the red headscarf in his hair, and before he knew it he was standing in front of him a bewildered look on his face. 

 

“Hi, I saw you watching earlier, I was wondering if you would come back to ask your questions!” Jesus Christ, Louis was stunned. It was so rich of this man to think that Louis would have questions to ask. Did he look like an amateur?

 

“Yes, I, yes, I have questions for you!” Louis retorted, “I have  _ a _ question, actually…” He didn’t have  _ a single  _ question! Well done, Louis, your plan was so unprepared! 

 

“Oh, you don’t know the name of your plant, right?” And was that condescension Louis heard in his tone? Did this hipster just imply that he didn’t know the name of one his plants? 

 

“Yes, that’s right, you got me there. I’m not a specialist!” Louis tried to make his smile reach his eyes, but it was a lost cause.

 

“It’s totally alright, I’m here to help. I decided to start this Treatment Hour as I called it so people could come in and ask me questions, so you’re not the only one.” The man grinned and Louis’ blood boiled. 

 

“Treatment Hour? I see, so you are a proper ‘guru’!” He made brackets in the air with his fingers and tried his best to contain his anger. 

 

“I would never call myself that, but with my two books about interior plants and helping people to spot what’s wrong with their plants, people tend to come here and ask me question after question. That’s why I wanted to create this special hour in the day, so people would come and ask me questions.” The man seemed flustered, which seemed weird, but Louis didn’t fall for it. Why the heck did he need to write two books about how to save plants? This man was too much,  _ way too much.  _

 

“That’s, wow, that’s really great,” Louis tried to sound admirative, but failed miserably.

 

“It is, but I guess you didn’t come all the way to hear about my life! What can I do for you?”

 

And yes, Louis was here to ask a question, because he was supposed to have a problem with one of his plants... and wait, he actually did!

 

“Maybe it’s better if I show you.” Louis removed his phone from his back pocket and searched for the photos of his peace lily. Some of the leaves had started to turn brown, and Louis had forgot to leave a small sliver of the leaf when cutting the brown out, which had created a fresh wound and stressed the plant, resulting in the leaves turning a burnished colour. 

 

“Oh that looks like you have a problem with watering, maybe?” Harry suggested while taking Louis’ phone to examine the photo better. “Or maybe not. From what I can see your soil seems moist enough, have you used a fertiliser on it recently? Sometimes when you use too much of it or the wrong kind, it causes the browning of the leaves.”

 

Louis was kind of impressed. The man asked the right questions and seemed to take the matter to heart with the way he was examining the photo. But he was so far from the solution. Louis having poor watering habits? Oii! Louis was not an amateur!

 

“We actually sell fertiliser here for peace lilies, it’s homemade.” 

 

Of course, the businessman in him had to intervene.

 

“That’s great, I’ll think about it,” Louis said while taking back his phone. “Thank you for your advice and-” 

 

“Can I ask you your name?” The man asked. God, Louis couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. “I mean, because I’d like to see you again. I mean, if you’re interested, you don’t have to say anything, I’m sorry for blurting that out like that, I’m very bad at this whole thing.”

 

“What thing?” 

 

“Um, asking guys out?” 

 

Oh, so this hippie guy was interested in Louis, huh?

 

“I’m Louis, and you are?” Louis tilted his head while waiting for the man to give his name.

 

“I’m Harry, I own this place.” So he was the owner. Louis had kind of figured it out since Harry spoke about his books, but it was always good to have confirmation.

 

“Nice place, I really like this greenhouse.” Louis was sincere for once. 

 

“Thank you. It was hard work to find the perfect place, but once I found it, the plants did the rest. It’s been three years that I’m here now, I still remember how little this elephant ear tree was back then,” Harry said, pointing towards one of the biggest plants in the plant nursery. 

 

“Crazy how plants can own their habitat like that, right?” Louis wondered out loud, but Harry caught it and looked at him funnily.

 

“You have any more plants other than this peace lily you showed me?” 

 

Louis understood that he was quickly giving himself away, so he went back to his ignorant role he was still playing. “Oh no, I’ve only got this plant, yeah.” What a lie. Louis was living in a soon to be jungle. Thankfully, or unfortunately, for Louis, Liam, his flatmate, was trying to keep their place jungle free, scoffing at Louis when he would come back with more plants. 

 

“That’s such a shame. Plants are a big part of my life, actually, so I can only encourage you to buy more.” 

 

“Yeah, for sure.”  _ And spend way too much money in your fancy shop,  _ Louis thought. 

 

“So, um, tell me if I’m too forward, but could I maybe get your number?” Harry asked with shifty eyes. “I would love to see you again, maybe have some tea and see if your peace lily is doing better.” 

 

“Oh, I see,” Louis put one hand on his hip, nodding knowingly, “Is it part of the treatment? Do you ask all your customers in need of help for their numbers?” 

 

Harry ducked his head, pinching his bottom lip. “No, only the cute ones.”

 

“Flattery will lead you nowhere, you know!” Louis was loving this. Finally Harry was on shaky grounds, and Louis was very amused.

 

“So I guess I’ll just hope to see next time you come here?” Harry had hopeful eyes, and something in Louis melted. This boy really was a charmer, and Louis was falling for it. Just a little bit. 

 

They quickly exchanged phones to put their respective numbers in them, and Louis said his final goodbye letting Harry know that he’d be waiting for his next move. 

  
  


***

The next Saturday Harry took him to the flower market in Camden. They managed to text almost everyday since their meeting, and every time Louis tried very hard not to blow up his cover and act like the bit of a  plant connoisseur he was. This was difficult, especially because Harry was just like him, talking about plants all day long if Louis didn’t turn their conversation to other topics. It was thrilling for Louis to have found someone as passionate as him. Although they had totally different approaches to the topic, deep down they still cared about the same thing. 

 

They were currently strolling along the stands of flowers, and Louis found it more and more difficult to contain his enthusiasm. It was June, for crying out loud! The month of blossoming flowers! Louis was mad at his crazy plan. 

 

“Look, those ranunculus are also called buttercups because of their colour and shape, they’re actually pretty rare.” 

 

“I see. And those ones, what are those?” Louis was pointing towards a bouquet of pink azaleas.

 

“Those are azaleas, they’re pretty, aren’t they? I really love their colour.” Harry was smiling while looking at the bouquets in front of him, but Louis’ attention was already on the next stand because...

 

“Oh my god, they have peruvian lilies!” He exclaimed, striding towards the yellow flowers. He was so fascinated by his discovery that he almost forgot about the charade he was supposed to be keeping up. God, he had just shown off his knowledge, hadn’t he?

 

“So you know those rare flowers?” Harry questioned, eyes searching Louis’ face.

 

“Oh yes, I know those, they’re my mum’s favourite, actually,” he grinned, hoping Harry wouldn’t ask further questions.

 

Fortunately, Harry only smiled and continued walking, looking at the flowers around them. 

 

As much as Louis was not a massive fan of cut flowers, he couldn’t say that this date wasn’t one of his favourites so far. Not that Louis had been on loads of dates, but nobody had ever planned a date that involved his true passion. 

 

When they finally arrived at the end of the market, Harry suggested they go grab ice cream at a small shop he knew.

 

Louis went for caramel and chocolate, while Harry opted for mint choc chip.

 

“I don’t know how you can eat that, that’s toothpaste in a cup to be honest.” Louis was eyeing Harry’s ice cream warily while taking a seat at one of the tables. 

 

“Haha, toothpaste in a cup, that was funny! And the first time I hear that! I should let you know that this,” he said while pointing at his ice cream, “is actually my favourite ice cream flavour.” 

 

“Well, Harold, I’m afraid we are incompatible,” Louis joked while getting up from his chair, pretending to leave. “Bye!” 

 

“No, wait! I’m sure we have things in common. Like you seem to like my rants about plants even though you act like you don’t,” Harry smirked knowingly, and Louis bit his lower lip to hide his smile. Damn it, this boy was too smart.

 

“Okay, touché. I quite like it,” Louis brushed it off as if it was nothing. “Now tell me how you got into this, how you became such a plant connoisseur selling books about them.”

 

“Oh, you’re going to laugh, but it started when my first tattoo appeared.” Harry was lifting his left sleeve, and Louis was absolutely not laughing. He wanted to scream  _ Same!  _ and show Harry his flax flowers, but he controlled himself and eyed Harry’ bicep. 

 

“So my first one was this little one right here.” He was pointing at a gorgeous hibiscus, and Louis couldn’t help but smile. They say that the first tattoo represents your soulmate the most, and having a hibiscus as your first meant that you’re soulmate was quite exceptional. 

 

“It means delicate beauty,” Harry said while lightly caressing his tattoo. “When it appeared, I needed to know everything about it, what it meant, what they represent, everything. That’s how it all started.” Harry finally raised his head to meet Louis’ gaze. “Hey, are you okay?” Harry bent over the table to swipe up a tear rolling down Louis’ cheek. 

 

“Oh my god,” Louis smiled through the tears that he was forcing back. “I’m so sorry, I guess I have a soft spot for this kind of thing.” Harry seemed a little reassured and sat back. “So what’s your favourite tattoo on your arm so far?” 

 

Harry studied his left arm before answering. “Easy, this one.” The tattoo was almost taking up his whole inner forearm, and Louis almost choked on his ice cream when he saw the animal running on Harry’s arm. “My little coyote.” 

 

“That’s an interesting one, is it your soulmate’s spirit animal?” Louis was very curious. He had heard about people having their soulmate’s spirit animal tattooed on their arm at a very young age. Apparently it meant that your soulmate was either older than you, or that they have their personality figured out quickly in life. 

 

“It’s my favourite because I felt closer to my soulmate as soon as I dug in and understood what the coyote as a spirit animal means,” Harry said with a certain fondness in his voice. “They say that the ones that have this spirit animal love to play practical jokes and pranks on their peers and that they enjoy living in the present moment. They find joy in all the things they do. They also have a very closely knit family and love to work with children. They know how to be themselves without having to put on airs and masks. They fear a little to allow themselves to be vulnerable and they will gain the most from their life.”

 

“Your soulmate seems to have a very nice personality! When did you get it?” Louis cleared his throat. This whole conversation was way too personal. What had started as a joke was starting to actually mean a lot to him. Harry was a lovely person, generous and genuine and opened up easily, and Louis felt bad for pretending, now.

 

“I got it when I was thirteen, around Christmas time. I remember because it felt like my soulmate offering me a little bit of themselves.” Harry beamed while finishing his cup of ice cream. “But what about you? What was your first tattoo?” 

 

And that, Louis couldn’t do. It was one thing to listen to Harry and eagerly nod along to anything he was saying, but lying about his soulmate, his tattoos, Louis couldn’t do it.

 

“Well, I guess that’s a conversation for another day, Harold. I really need to go, I didn’t see but time flies.” He abruptly got up from his chair, patting an imaginary watch on his wrist.

 

“Oh yes, of course, I’m sorry for talking for so long, I-”

 

“Harry, hey, none of that. I’m very happy we got to talk and I got to listen to you, I just need to go back to my flat. My flatmate certainly needs me by now, we always spend weekends together normally.” Lies, lies, lies. Louis was an awful person who hated himself very much right now, and he needed to leave even more than before. It was too painful to watch Harry’s genuine smile and hear his apologies for talking too much. Dear lord, if the boy only knew, Louis would listen to him talk about anything for days!

 

“Okay, well, let’s meet again another time, then? I’m very curious about you, you don’t share too much, do you?” Harry grinned as he held the door to the ice cream parlour open for Louis. 

 

“Yeah, we’ll do that, you have my number anyway.” Louis walked outside and instead of running for his life, he leaned towards Harry to hug him. “Thanks Harry for today, I really enjoyed it.” And before Harry could respond to his hug, Louis left waving goodbye one last time. 

  
  


***

 

Louis was hiding. Or rather, not responding to Harry’s attempts to interact with him. It had been four days since their last date, and he still felt awful about the whole situation. He needed to come clean to Harry, but it was easier said than done. Each time his phone vibrated with a new message he couldn’t help but feel the knife twist a little deeper inside. 

 

“Damn it, just respond to this poor boy already!” He was currently watching a movie with Liam, and his flatmate was getting annoyed at the vibrations of Louis’ phone on the coffee table. 

 

“I can’t, Li, and you know why.” Louis remained focused on the telly, but his heart and mind were definitely elsewhere. Unfortunately for him, Liam wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily, instead pausing the movie.

 

“Alright, I’ll do it for you then,” he said, grabbing Louis’ phone.

 

“Go for it, you don’t even know my password!” Liam grunted but didn’t let it go. 

 

“I don’t understand why you won’t just plan to meet him and tell him the truth. You didn’t kill his mum, Lou, you just lied about your common interests.” 

 

Even though Louis knew his friend was right, he wasn’t up for a discussion right now and got up from the couch. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” 

 

“Okay, alright, continue to deal with your problems immaturely!” Liam was shouting by the end of his sentence as Louis stormed out. 

 

Damn Liam, why did he always have to be right? Of course, Louis knew that it would be easier to just tell Harry everything, but Louis was scared. Scared of hurting Harry’s feelings and seeing his beautiful smile disappear from his face, replaced by stormy, upset eyes.

 

The vibrations from his phone startled him out of his thoughts, and Louis picked up without looking at the caller ID.

 

“Hello?” 

 

“Hey Louis, it’s Harry, I’m glad you picked up!” Damn it, Louis should have been more focused. 

 

“Hey Harry! How are you? I’m sorry I’ve not been answering, I’ve had a couple of busy days!” Lies again. Louis was a secondary school teacher ,and seeing as it was June, he was soon approaching the well deserved summer holidays.

 

“Yeah, I figured!” Harry cleared his throat before continuing. “I was wondering if you’d like to meet again? Maybe just for tea or coffee?” 

 

And that was it, right? His chance to come clean and explain everything. Harry was practically handing him the opportunity. Louis was now hoping that Harry wouldn’t be too upset by Louis’ revelations. But there was only one way to find out. 

 

“Yeah, I’d like that, actually.” 

 

***

  
  


“Liam, are you sure you don’t want me to stay? You look really pale, mate.” Louis was all dressed up for his date with Harry, but an awful bout of coughing from Liam’s bedroom made him go check up on his flatmate. 

 

“Nah, I’m fine, I’m just not feeling good but nothing that could prevent you from your special date.” Liam tried to wiggle his eyebrows, but it turned into a grimace when the coughing started up again. 

 

“God, Li, you should have told me earlier that you weren’t feeling great.” Louis touched his friend’s forehead, which was extremely hot. “ You must have fever.” 

 

Louis ran to the bathroom to come back five minutes later with his emergency kit. One of the perks of being a teacher was that he had been trained to be ready in any kind of medical emergency. He quickly took Liam’s temperature to see that it was indeed way above 37°.

 

“Li, you’ve got temperature, mate, you need to rest.” Louis helped Liam to lie down on his bed and went back into the bathroom to wet a flannel. “Here, put this on your forehead, I’m going to see if we have some ibuprofen.” 

 

“Thanks, Lou,” Liam said in a hoarse voice. “You should go, I can take care of myself while you meet with Harry.” 

 

“I don’t know,” Louis was back with a glass water and a unopened box of paracetamol. “Here, I could only found this.” 

 

“I’m sure, I’m big enough to take care of myself.” Liam took the medication and lied down under the covers. “Go!” 

 

Louis reluctantly started to leave the room. “If you need anything Li, you call, okay?” He waited to see Liam nod before closing the bedroom door. 

 

***

 

Harry was already waiting for him when he arrived in the coffee shop. Harry had chosen the place, and Louis was glad to have found it without wasting too much time. The coffee shop was tiny but cosy, only four little tables scattered around, and Louis had no difficulty finding Harry already waving at him.

 

“Hey, Lou!” Harry stood up to welcome Louis. “How are you?”

 

“I’m fine, sorry I’m late, my flatmate Liam is sick.” 

 

“Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that. We could have cancelled, you know.” Harry seemed to be very concerned, but Louis reassured him that Liam would call if anything happened.

 

They both ordered, and Louis was starting to feel giddy. He was supposed to reveal his lies today, but how could he when Harry looked at him with such enthusiasm and genuine joy? 

 

“So last time we met you said that you would tell me all about your tattoos the next time we saw each other, so I think it’s time for you to speak up, Lou!” 

 

They drinks arrived at the same time as Harry called him Lou, a nickname which never in his entire life had given him goosebumps before. Damn Harry’s deep voice! 

 

“I did say that, didn’t I?” Louis chuckled and hid his blushing face by drinking his tea. “So what do you want to know?” 

 

“Everything!” Harry grinned, “But I guess you could start by telling me if you already have your soulmate spirit animal?” 

 

Louis smiled and proceeded to roll up his sleeve. He was very proud of the animal tattooed on his inner forearm.

 

“Oh, a dolphin!” Harry seemed mesmerised and put his cup of tea on the side to have better access to Louis’ arm.

 

“Yes, the dolphin represents the ability to balance many things. My soulmate must be the master of being in two worlds at once. They can complete serious tasks, provide  [ protection ](http://spirit-animals.com/tag/protection) and  [ guidance ](http://spirit-animals.com/tag/guidance) without putting themselves at risk, and they have a generous spirit without needing to please. They understand harmony, transcendence and  [ community ](http://spirit-animals.com/tag/community) , and use all these tools to create  [ grace ](http://spirit-animals.com/tag/grace) in their  [ life ](http://spirit-animals.com/tag/life) . I’d say my soulmate must be graceful, genuine, generous and it must be nice to be in their presence.”

 

Louis was caressing his tattoo affectionately, just like he had done a million times since it appeared three years ago. It had been a journey to discover and comprehend what the dolphin meant as a spirit animal. But in Louis’ research he hadn’t found a single negative meaning for this animal, leaving him in even more admiration of the person his soulmate must be. 

 

“Your soulmate seems like a very good person,” Harry murmured, startling Louis out of his thoughts.

 

Louis could only reply with a dreamy, “Yeah.” He was sure of it - his soulmate was an extraordinary person, and at times he was concerned he didn’t deserve such an amazing partner for life.

 

“I can see that you have flowers on your arm as well,” Harry pointed towards his gentians.

 

“Yes, those are gentians, they represents sweetness.” 

 

“Sweetness,” Harry echoed while intently watching Louis’ arm. “What was your first tattoo?” 

 

Louis smiled anxiously and started to turn his arm so Harry could see his flax flowers. He was just about to tell him how it had all started when his phone rang.

 

“Oh my god, I’m sorry! It’s Liam, I need to take this,” Louis apologised before picking up. “Li? How are you? Are you okay?”

 

“Hey Lou,” Liam coughed on the phone so loud that Louis had to remove it from his ear for two seconds. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but I really need medicine for my cough and my head is killing me.” 

 

“It’s okay, Li, I’ll be there in fifteen, okay? I’m bringing medicine for you, drink some water and I’ll be there in no time.”

 

Louis hung up, and before he could say anything Harry stood up.

 

“I’m going to pay for our drinks, I know there’s a pharmacy not too far from the tube station, I’ll show you.”

 

Louis remained sitting there, mouth open, stunned by Harry’s behaviour. Who was this boy? And why was he so perfect? 

 

Fifteen minutes later they were off the tube and walking fast towards Louis’ flat. They found a well stocked pharmacy just like Harry had advised and were riding the tube no more than ten minutes after Liam’s call. 

 

“I don’t know how I can thank you, Harry. I wouldn’t be already home with meds for Liam without you.” Louis opened the door and rushed inside, not taking the time to remove his shoes; Liam wouldn’t say anything this time, Louis was sure. “I’ll be back soon, the living room is that way,” he indicated to Harry while striding towards Liam’s room.

“Hey Li, it’s me.” He knocked twice on the door before entering and rushing towards the bed. Liam was coughing his lungs out, and it hurt Louis just to hear it. “God, that’s bad, innit?” 

 

“Fucking cold, I don’t know where it comes from, but it’s awful.” Liam seemed miserable, and Louis made a quick job of giving him the bottle of syrup he had found at the pharmacy. 

 

“I have this as well, I think it will help you.” Louis took the glass of water on the nightstand and put two pills in Liam’s hand.

 

“God, thanks Lou, I owe you big time.” Liam rested his head against his pillow and started to close his eyes. “I’m sorry for interrupting your date, mate.” 

 

Oh, shit. Harry.

 

Louis stood up quickly and almost ran to the living room where Harry was looking at his plants. Damn it. With Liam being sick, Louis had forgot that his own interior looked like a jungle, leaving him to explain to Harry why he was surrounded with that many plants if he was not the least bit of plant lover. 

 

“You have quite the collection.” Harry was looking in awe at every plant Louis had strategically placed in the living room. “I don’t understand”, he continued, his gaze meeting Louis’. “I thought, I thought-”

 

“I’m sorry, I can explain everything,” Louis said in a high pitched voice.

 

But the frown on Harry’s face made it quite clear that he wasn’t up for the conversation.

 

“You said you don’t know a thing about plants, Louis! You showed me a picture of a plant and asked for my help, did you really need my help?” 

 

“Um, not really, plus you were wrong.” And fuck, couldn’t he just shut up! Harry was livid and already walking towards the front door.

 

“I was wrong? You know what, nevermind, I’m done. Whatever there was between us, there is nothing anymore. I don’t like liars.” Harry shouted, striding towards the front door.

 

“I’m not a liar!” Louis shouted back. He ran in front of Harry to block his the access to the door. “I’m not a liar, okay? I made a mistake, yes, but if you let me explain myself, you’ll understand everything.”

 

Harry studied his face for a whole minute before crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Okay, I’m listening. Why did you lie?” 

 

“Okay, so people at my work told me about your plant nursery, and the day you saw me for the first time was me visiting what I believed was the coolest place ever.”

 

“Believed? What’s wrong with my shop?” Harry looked almost hurt, and Louis ducked his head to avoid his stare.

 

“Before I tell you everything, I have to explain that plants mean a lot to me, like a lot, Harry,” he insisted grabbing Harry’s arm.

 

“Okay, I still don’t get it, Louis. Why lie to me?” Harry huffed impatiently.

 

“I loved your nursery when I heard you talk,” Louis murmured, eyes closed and facing the floor.

 

“You heard me talk? And what did I say?” 

 

“Your place is super pretentious, okay, there you have it, I said it,” Louis rushed to say, but unfortunately he was not done. “The way you have people calling you a guru, what the heck, man! And the Treatment Hour? Seriously? I found the whole stuff so hipster and pretentious and riding  a trend, and I hated it, so yes, I lied. I lied because you came up to me and asked if I had a problem with one of my plants, and I kinda wanted to test you and you completely failed, by the way!” 

 

Harry was watching him with round eyes, and Louis realised that he had definitely gone too far, but before he could apologise for his harsh words, Harry asked, “What was the problem?” 

 

“The problem?”

 

“Yes, with your water lily, what was her problem?” 

 

Realisation washed over Louis’ face, and before he could ask Harry why he was asking this, he replied, “I cut the brown ends without enough care.” 

 

“I see,” Harry responded before pushing slightly Louis and opening the front door. “Bye, Louis.” 

 

“Wait, what?” Louis grabbed the front door before it closed and ran after Harry. “You’re not going to say anything about what I said earlier?” 

 

Harry smiled sadly before replying, “I think everything has been said. I’ll go now. I’ll appreciate it if you don’t follow me.”

 

And just like that, Harry was gone.

 

***

 

Louis was moping, there was no other word for it. He was currently admiring the laurel tattoos on his wrist and wondering what his soulmate was doing. But the thought of Harry’s sad smile when he had disappeared out of the door two days ago was still haunting him. As soon as Harry had left that day, Louis heard Liam calling him from his bed. 

 

Of course, they got into an argument when Liam didn’t understand why in the world Louis would have lied to the only person who could understand his passion for plants. 

 

Now, two days later, Louis was still tempted to drop a message to Harry or even go to his shop to ask for forgiveness. But he was scared. Liam was right, Harry had been the first guy he could finally bond over his true passion with, Harry would have been a fantastic friend, or even more, if Louis hadn’t screwed things up. 

 

If Louis wanted to be able to speak to Harry again, he needed to do something; nothing would be resolved if he stayed there, just lying around. With one last look at his arm full of tattoos he stood up and decided to make himself some tea to help him decide how to win Harry back.

 

“What ya doin’?” Liam asked, coming from behind and making Louis jump.

 

“Bloody hell! How long have you been there?” Louis asked while pouring water into the kettle.

 

“Just arrived, you didn't hear the door? Make some for me, please.” He pointed towards the kettle and went to the fridge to retrieve some milk.

 

“No, I didn't. Here’s yours,” he poured some water into the mug he had originally planned on using and went to the cupboard above the sink to grab a new one for himself. 

 

“What's wrong? I can see wrinkles on your forehead, and that only happens when you’re bothered about something.”

 

Louis turned around to face his friend. “I don’t know if I should be concerned that you have studied my facial expressions to know when something is upsetting me, but yeah, I’m still thinking about Harry and what I’ve done.”

 

“Louis, I hate to break to you, mate, but if you just sit there lamenting what you’ve done, nothing will change,” Liam said. “It’s been two days and you still haven’t tried to contact him, right?” 

 

Louis sipped his burning tea to swallow the lump in his throat. “I fucking know that, Li, I just give him some space, you know.” 

 

“I think he’s got enough space now, he’ll think you don’t care if you don’t try anything,” Liam pointed out. “Why don’t you bring him flowers or something? You’re good at this shit.”

 

“I guess I could try flowers, yes. I know exactly which flowers symbolise the message I want to convey, so I could try, I guess,” Louis said pensively.

 

“You should definitely do that yeah. I’ll see you around, bro.” Liam left the room with his cup in hands, leaving Louis with his thoughts.

Liam was right. Louis needed to do something now to show Harry that he was deeply sorry for lying and pretending about his knowledge of plants.. He knew the perfect flowers for that, a bouquet of white tulips. Decision made, he quickly drank his tea and strode towards his bedroom to grab his wallet. He knew the only flower shop in London that would have white tulips without him having to order them in advance, but it was quite far away from where he lived.

 

“Liam, I’m going, bye!” He shouted before closing the front door. Mission Win Harry Back was on.

  
  


When he arrived at Harry’s shop less than an hour later, he started to feel anxious. Harry never seemed to be a violent or insane guy, but you never knew. He walked slowly into the cacti room and checked if Harry was at the till, but there was no one but customers and a girl who looked like an employee. 

 

He continued towards the second part of the shop and went to the corner where the Treatment Hour took place the other time Louis had been there, but Harry was nowhere to be seen. Louis was starting to feel the disappointment slowly get to him but before leaving decided to ask the employee if Harry was here today.

 

Before he could spot the girl, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around.

 

“What are you doing here?” Harry was right in front of him, a loose cream blouse opened enough that Louis could have a glance at his torso, and fitted black jeans/trousers. He looked like a pirate and Louis had difficulty averting his gaze. When he did, though, he caught Harry’s scold that reminded him of why he was there in the first place.

 

“Hi, Harry, how are you?” He made sure to put on his warmest smile and continued, “I brought you flowers.” He offered the bouquet of white tulips to Harry, who took it slowly from his hands.

 

“Why?” Harry murmured, “Why are you doing this?” 

 

“I need to say I’m deeply sorry for what I’ve done.” Louis shoved his hands in his pockets. “They mean I’m sorry, by the way,” he added, pointing out to the flowers. “But I’m sure you know that.”

 

“I-” Harry tried to say something, but just ended up fiddling with the bouquet.

 

“Harry, please say something. I’m really sorry, I am, I made a mistake and I’m hoping for forgiveness, or at least that we can start hanging out again. You’re honestly the only my age I know that loves and cares for plants as much as I do,” Louis pleaded, trying to catch Harry’s gaze.

 

“I don’t know, Lou. You say that you care, but you made me look like a fool,” Harry finally spoke up. “I shared personal stories about my tattoos with you and for what? So you can laugh behind my back? I don’t know if I can trust you.” 

 

“You don’t have to trust me right away. How about we exchange roles, yeah? I’ll be the one explaining my tattoos and sharing personal stuff, you won’t even have to say anything, please, H, can we meet again?” 

 

Harry ran his hand through his hair that was starting to get in the way, and Louis couldn’t help but follow the move. He would give everything to card his hand through Harry’s mane. His hair seemed so soft and nice to play with. Louis had always been a sucker for hair play. 

 

“Okay, yeah, I guess I could give you another chance if you promise no more lies, okay?” 

 

“No more lies, I promise!” Louis grinned. He couldn’t believe his luck, Harry was just the nicest person on earth. “Do you have plans tonight or?” 

 

“Tonight?” Harry asked, taken aback, “Oh, uh, no, I guess I don’t have anything planned.” 

 

“Would you like to come to my place?” Louis offered. “I can’t cook to save my life, but we can order in and I can show you my plants and just hang out, if you’d like.” 

 

“Um, yeah, okay, I think I remember the way to your flat. Send me your address just to be sure, I’ll come around when I’m done here if that’s alright, around seven?” 

 

“That’s a deal!” Louis beamed. “Okay, I better leave you working now,” he added before touching Harry’s forearm. “Thank you for giving me another chance.” 

 

***

 

Louis was stressed. He was supposed to meet Harry at the train station near his flat in fifteen minutes to have him over for a cuppa and talk about his plants. He was currently pacing the living room from left to right to right to left, waiting for the clock to stop on five to five to go to the station. 

 

They had texted quite a lot since Louis had come clear about his lie to Harry. At first, Louis could feel that Harry was colder and shorter than usual in his replies, but when Louis finally opened up and texted about personal matters or just sent him photos of his plants, he noticed a slight change in Harry’s responses. A little warmer, overall. Which entertained Louis’ hope that he hadn’t screwed this up forever. 

 

When the clock finally cooperated and announced that it was time to go, Louis took his phone and keys and stepped out of his flat.

 

The weather was not too bad for June, but Louis had a tendency get cold easily, so while he scolded himself for not bringing a jacket, he checked the underground station entrance to be sure not to miss Harry. 

 

Not even five minutes later Harry arrived, his eyes searching the crowd for Louis. He couldn’t help but take in Harry’s outfit for the day. He was wearing high waisted blue jeans rolled up at the ankles with a worn out band tee that he had knotted up just above his belly button and white vans on his feet. Louis was mesmerised - so much that he didn’t see Harry coming straight towards him, having apparently found him before Louis’ brain could function again.

 

“Hey Lou!” Harry greeted him while removing his sunglasses and putting them up onto his head. “How are you?” 

 

“I’m fine, love,” Louis smiled and tried not to focus too much on the use of pet names. “I’m getting cold, though. Shall we?”

 

They walked back towards Louis’ flat chatting.

 

When they finally entered the flat, Harry made a beeline towards the living room. “I still can’t believe you hid those beauties from me,” he said in awe. Louis chuckled and approached him from behind. 

 

“Are you admiring my monstera deliciosa?” 

 

“Or commonly called Swiss cheese plant, yes, they’re amazing! How did you grow them so big? Have you named them?” Harry fired, earning a raucous laugh from Louis.

 

“Alright, love, shall I prepare two cuppas? And then we can discuss all about my plants,” he added, because Harry’s eyes were shining a bright forest green right now. “Plant by plant, you will know everything.” And if Harry’s eyes shined a little bit brighter, Louis wouldn’t be the one to complain about it.

 

So that’s what they did. For an hour or so, Louis explained everything about each and every one of his plants located in the living room. He was pleased to finally have found someone that was more than happy to listen to him talk about sun exposure and the extent variety of ficus plants that exist. Harry was listening attentively, asking questions and sharing facts and explanations when Louis was not entirely sure of something. The hour passed so quickly that Louis didn’t even hear Liam arriving home from work. Only when the kettle went on did Louis perk up.

 

“Oh, I think my flatmate has arrived,” he said while standing up from the floor. “Do you fancy another cup of tea, love?”

 

“Yes, please. Should I come with you?” Harry asked, eyeing the kitchen.

 

“Yeah, let’s go, let’s say hi to Payno.” Louis led them towards the kitchen where Liam was focused on his phone waiting for his tea to cool off.

 

“Oi, did you leave us some water, Li?” Louis asked, making Liam jump slightly.

 

“Jesus, Louis, I didn’t hear you come in!” He scolded, his right hand flat on his chest. “Oh, hi, you must be Harry, right?” Liam offered his hand to Harry, who shook it enthusiastically in return. “Heard a lot about you, crazy plant lover, aren’t you?” 

 

“Um, yeah, you could say, although I don’t have as many at home as Louis.  I must say, he did an incredible job with your living room, can’t wait to see his own room,” Harry responded before realising what he had just said. “I mean, to see the plants, not to do anything else, I mean, not that I -”

 

“Harry breath, love,” Louis grinned from beside him. “We got it the first time, and speaking of, here is your cuppa. Shall we go visit my room, then?” 

 

“Yeah, sure,” Harry nodded, his cheeks still a little pink from the embarrassment. “Nice to meet you Liam.” He smiled and followed Louis into the hallway. 

 

Before he could put himself down for making a fool of himself, Harry was led into Louis’ bedroom. 

 

“So, this is my room. Please, make yourself comfortable and ask me any questions, I’ll be happy to respond.” Louis was rubbing his cup of tea nervously. He had never encountered a person that didn’t laugh at, comment on or criticise his room. Even his own mother kept saying it was too much, that plants were not supposed to be in your bedroom, that he shouldn’t complain if he wakes up at night and has headaches during the day - sleeping near plants was a no-go for his mother, and she made sure to repeat it every time Louis was facetiming her in his room. 

 

“Oh my god Louis, this is amazing!” Harry’s eyes were comically wide along with his mouth opened wide in admiration and astonishment, slowly spinning round. “How long did it take to have this final result? No, wait, my first question is, what was your first plant?” 

 

Louis sat on his bed with his legs crossed. “Well, I’d say it was my flax plants,” he replied, pointing towards one of the pots on his bookshelf. “You know, because it’s one of my tattoos,” he added quietly.

 

“Oh yes, you told me, can I-, can I see it again?”  Harry asked, softly sitting down beside Louis on the edge of the bed. 

 

Louis complied quickly, rolling up his sleeve. “Here,” he pointed towards the bright black and purple tattoo. 

 

“I really love it, Lou, it’s so pretty.” Harry was caressing Louis’ arm lightly, giving him goosebumps and butterflies in his stomach. Louis had always been secretive about his tattoos, not one to talk about or show them to anyone. But with Harry it was different; he wanted Harry to know everything about them, he wanted Harry to give him his honest opinion about what and who he thought his soulmate was. 

 

“Thank you. I don’t show it to anyone, but I think it’s okay, I can show you. Look, that’s my dolphin.” He rolled up his sleeve a little bit higher to allow Harry a better view. His dolphin was a masterpiece to his opinion. The animal was pictured in water, swimming around happily. Louis loved to imagine stories about the dolphin, it was part of his soulmate, too, and he was dying to finally meet this person and judge for himself if faith was a good matchmaker. He had heard stories about soulmates that met but never felt the spark between them or ones that couldn’t even stand each other. Louis was not totally sure if they was true or not, but nevertheless the feeling they brought on was frightening. Louis had a lot of plans for his soulmate and himself, and now he was just waiting to cross paths with them.

 

“Lou, look, it looks like it’s moving!” Harry cried out, startling Louis out of his thoughts. 

 

“No, it can’t be, it’s never moved yet,” Louis responded, but the closer he looked and blinked, the more he could see a little moving of the waves around the dolphin. “What the fuck?” He retrieved his arm from under Harry’s hand and examined it closely. “Oh my god, it  _ is _ moving, Harry, you’re right, oh my god!”

 

“You know what that means, right?” Harry asked. “Your soulmate is getting closer to you!” 

 

“I know, I’m-, oh my god, I thought it was a myth, I’ve never seen someone’s tattoos move yet! Oh my god, I need to tell Liam!” He cried before hurriedly going straight into Liam’s room. 

 

The day had finally come, something was happening, Louis was not yet sure what exactly was happening, but it was happening. And Louis was ready for it. 

 

When he came back to his room, Harry was scrutinising his own tattoos. 

 

“Hey,” Louis said coming back to sit where he was previously. Harry stopped what he was doing abruptly and Louis couldn’t help but tease, “Checking if yours are moving too?” 

 

Harry ducked his head a little, ashamed to have been caught. “Yeah, one can hope, right?” He met Louis’s gaze and added with a sad smile, “But they don’t seem to be moving at all.” 

 

“Hey, it’s alright, It’ll happen soon to you, too, don’t worry.” Louis patted Harry’s arm gently and noticed a series of little random tattoos on the inside of his elbow. “Oh my god, those are sick!” 

 

“Yeah! I quite like them, they appeared when I was sixteen, I think,” Harry touched the little football, cup of tea? doodles and music notes on his arm. “Those make it really easy for me to better understand what my soulmate is like, he loves football, likes tea and likes to doodle, I guess!”

 

“I have those too, look,” Louis replied, showing off the inside of his elbow. “I believe those are the evident ones, right?” He was pointing at his cat, guitar and book tattoos. 

 

“Aww, they look great! Look, I think the cat’s tail is moving, isn’t it?” 

 

“Oh my god, you’re so right!” Louis exclaimed, clapping his hands with enthusiasm. “I can’t believe this is happening! I need to ring me mum!” 

 

Harry chuckled and stood up. “I’m really happy for you, Lou. I’ll leave you alone so you can call your mum and we’ll meet later in the week? You could come to the shop or to my place? I have less plants than you, but I’ll be happy to show you my babies!” He winked knowing that Louis was not a fan of calling plants babies. 

 

“Oh, yeah, you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer? I can call me mum later, and we can continue to hang out,” Louis suggested, hopeful Harry would decide to stay. The afternoon had flown by so fast and he wanted more of Harry.

 

“No, I need to get back to the shop,” Harry was already by the bedroom door, so Louis followed and led them to the front door. “I’ll see you soon, though?” Harry leaned in to hug Louis. “I’m very happy for you, Lou, really,” he murmured into Louis’s hair. 

 

“Thank you, love. Soon, it’ll be your turn, I’m sure, I can feel it,” Louis replied before they separated.

 

Louis watched Harry wave to him goodbye one last time and closed the door behind him. 

 

Jesus, this boy was so lovely. Harry would be an incredible catch for his soulmate, wherever they were. Deep down, Louis had thought that maybe if his tattoos had started to move, then maybe Harry would be his soulmate. After all, he was the only new person in his life at the moment. But Harry had said his were very much still and therefore the thought had died before it could become a real thing. 

 

Louis slouched down on his bed, smiling happily. God, the time had finally come. He glanced down at his arm to check on his tattoo once again. This time, the book had started to move as well and the pages were moving as if someone was flipping through them. 

 

Louis was in awe. He picked up his phone and quickly rang his mum. 

 

“Hello, Louis?” Louis smiled and felt a thousand times lighter just from hearing his mum’s voice.

 

“Hiya! It’s me, you won’t believe what happened today! My tattoos started moving!” 

 

“Oh my god, baby! That’s amazing! You need to send us a video. Which one started moving first, love?” 

 

“The dolphin! It was actually Harry who noticed it first, you know,” Louis told her enthusiastically. 

 

“Harry? The boy who owns the plant shop you don’t like?” His mother was confused on the phone, and Louis remembered that he had forgot to update her on the latest development in his relationship with Harry.

 

“Nah, mum, it’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just, it’s too hipstery for me tastes. But Harry and I we are friends and he came over to check out my plants, and we ended up sat on me bed and we were looking our tattoos.”

 

“I see, so is he your soulmate, baby?” 

 

Louis scratched his stubble. “Nah, mum, it’s not like that, plus he said his tattoos weren’t moving, so...” 

 

“Do you want him to be your soulmate?” His mother enquired. 

 

“I don’t know, mum. I lied to him at first, but we’re starting over and he’s really lovely, mum, like really, he is so nice and very handsome, you would say so yourself, definitely.”

 

“I see that you’ve thought about it quite a lot!” His mother chuckled on the phone and Louis couldn’t help but laugh with her.

 

“I actually have, plus he is the only new person in my life right now, so I’m perplexed.”

 

“Well, it can happen sometimes that one soulmate is sure before the other one, which would explain why his tattoos haven’t moved yet, love.” 

 

Louis stayed pensive for a little bit before responding. “I don’t know, mum, I just think he’s destined for someone other than me.” 

 

***

 

Two days later Louis was on his way to Harry’s shop. They had texted quite a lot since their last encounter, Louis sending videos of his tattoos, which were all now moving on his arm. It had been a weird feeling at first, to have something constantly moving, and then more than just one tattoo. Louis felt like a fly or a bug was on his arm, but instead it was just his tattoos that were doing their own thing. Even the flowers were now animated. They were growing, dying and growing back in an interminable circle. Louis was fascinated by watching the whole process, over and over again. 

 

When he finally entered the shop, Harry was behind the till for once and his dimples popped out when he noticed Louis. He hastily finished with the customer he was taking care of and strode over to Louis.

 

“Hi! So happy you could make it!” He hugged Louis warmly before clapping his hands in front of his chest. “Can I see them?” He asked excitedly.

 

Louis beamed under the attention and nodded. “Of course, love.” He was already wearing short sleeves anyway. “They’re all moving, now, all doing their own thing.” 

 

“God, this is so entertaining!” Harry was tracing each tattoo with his index finger, causing goosebumps on Louis’ arm. “Oh my god, c’mon, let’s go sit and talk.” Harry smiled and took his hand to lead him towards the back of the store. 

 

Louis followed, feeling his cheeks turn pink. Harry was holding his hand, which, what the heck, Harry’s hand was huge compared to Louis’. Louis didn’t have the time to freak out for too long, though, because Harry stopped in front of a door labeled Private in red capital letters. 

 

“I don’t show this to a lot of people, but here,” Harry opened the door leading to a patio and was already going to sit on the edge of a small basin. 

 

“What is this place, H?” Louis was dazzled by the place. In the middle of London, it was so rare to have an interior garden like this. “This is amazing.” He continued to look with astonishment at everything from the small basin situated in the middle, to the little jungle that was surrounding it. 

 

“Come and sit?” Harry asked with a crooked smile. Louis obeyed easily, sitting near Harry, his eyes finding the fish in the water.

 

“You have fish in there? Oh my god, this is so cute. Harry this place is amazing, did you create it?” He asked, eyeing the plants. “Or was it like that already?” 

 

“Well, I helped strim and clear a little bit. The plants, as you know, have a mind of their own, so when I got the place, you weren’t able to see the cobblestone on the floor,” Harry chuckled. “But I think I did a decent job, and it’s nice to be able to come and sit here when I feel stressed or need to made a decision.”

 

Louis nodded. He totally understood. This place seemed like a safe haven, with the gentle lapping of the water and the green plants surrounding you. 

 

“Can I see your arm again?” Harry asked timidly. “I just, you’re the first person I know that it’s happened to. Even my big sister has never had that, she’s still searching and waiting for her soulmate.”

 

“It’s okay, love,” Louis leaned in closer to put his bare arm into Harry’s lap. “I’ve never met anyone it’s happened to, either.” 

 

“Oh I love this one!” Harry pointed to the anatomic heart Louis had on his upper arm. The heart was now slowly pumping blood as if it was alive. It was quite a sight, to be honest. 

 

“Yes, me too. It means that my soulmate is compassionate and kind, according to the books, at least.” 

 

And just like that they spent an hour showing each other all their soulmates tattoos. Louis showed his whole arm: his compass, his doves and his laurels. Harry showed him his little crown, the piano on his inner upper arm, the music notes, the theatre masks on his wrist and all the stars decorating his arms.

 

“You have quite a lot of stars!” Louis said. “They say stars are for the number of siblings your soulmate has.” 

 

Harry grinned. “Yes, I’ve read that, too. I have five stars in total, that’s quite a lot, innit?” Louis nodded slowly, doing the maths in his head and realising that he actually had five siblings as well. 

 

“It’s crazy because I have four sisters and one brother,” he couldn’t help but say. “I mean, I’m just thinking out loud, not that I could be your soulmate or anything, but you know...” he trailed off, watching Harry’s face fall more with each word. 

 

“Yeah, of course, not that you could be.” Harry lowered his head and rolled his sleeve back down. “My tattoos aren’t moving anyway.” He sounded so sad that Louis had to say something. The mood had completely shifted in a matter of seconds, and it was entirely his fault.

 

“Not that I don’t want to,” he murmured, leaning closer to Harry and tucking a lock of hair behind Harry’s ear. “I would be honoured to be your soulmate, Harry,” he continued, searching for Harry’s gaze with his eyes. “I’m sure your soulmate is the loveliest on earth and is waiting for you with great impatience.”  

 

Harry smiled sadly, his eyes finally meeting Louis’. “Thank you, Lou. Can I confess something really embarrassing to you?” 

 

Louis nodded immediately with a puzzled expression. 

 

“I thought I was your soulmate. From the first day, I could see something in you, you represented all of my tattoos, I felt it deep inside, and that’s why I asked to see you again and yeah, nevermind, I’m not your soulmate anyway.” Harry lowered his gaze again to stare at his opened palms in his lap. Louis was so touched by such vulnerability that he took Harry’s hands in his own.

 

“Harry, woah, I didn’t know you felt that way.” He pressed his fingers into Harry’s hands a little before continuing. “I actually have something to confess. I thought you would be mine, maybe. You’re so kind, you love plants just like me and you’re very charming, too.” He chuckled, but couldn’t help but see the irony in the situation. 

 

“It’s okay, Lou, this whole thing got into my head. We’ve been friends for like a month or something, I need to calm down.” Harry smiled sadly before retrieving his hands from Louis’ grip. “We should...” he continued while standing up, “I need to get back to work.”

 

“Of course, I’m sorry I took all your time,” Louis laughed nervously and followed Harry outside. It was like a brutal return to reality to come back into the store where all the customers were buzzing with energy, the shop assistants working around them. Louis felt a hand on his shoulder and jerked his head to see Harry smiling. 

 

“I’ll see you another time? I’m very happy for you, Lou.” 

 

“Yes, another time,” Louis nodded, “See you later.” 

 

***

 

Louis was hands deep in soil. 

 

After he left Harry the other day, his mood had dropped significantly, so much that as soon as he had entered his flat, he wanted to redecorate everything. The flat definitely didn’t need more plants according to Liam, but Louis found that the bathroom was lacking some. After all, the bathroom was the perfect habitat for plants that liked humidity. That was what he had said to Liam, and the boy had only rolled his eyes, knowing not to interfere. 

 

So Louis was currently trying to arrange the two new ferns he had got. At first, he had wanted them to hang from the ceiling, but seeing as he wasn’t allowed to drill into the ceiling, he had to find another way.  Trying to figure this out was a good distraction from thinking about Harry, and right now Louis would take anything to capture his attention.

 

The boy hadn’t left his mind since they had parted ways, and Louis felt awful each time his mind wandered back to that. He felt sick to his stomach that his relationship with Harry could possibly end like that. He knew the other man was waiting for his soulmate, and there was no way Louis could ask him not to. A lot of people didn’t wait for theirs, or didn’t care and just let their hearts decide instead of their tattoos. His own mother hadn’t waited, for example, she had found his father and started a relationship, just like that. Louis had contemplated the idea several times, to be quite honest. So many times in the past few days he had almost given up and ran to Harry’s shop to ask him to forget about this whole soulmate bullshit, that they were meant for each other, they could both feel it, tattoos be damned.

But everytime those thoughts came up, Louis would go to the bathroom and rearrange his plants instead. The room definitely needed more plants anyway. 

 

“Lou, what are you doing?” Liam jolted him out of his thoughts. He was currently trying to find his balance, perched on the edge of the bathtub with a small vaporisator in his left hand. 

 

“I’m creating humidity for my ferns, Liam, can’t you see?” Louis huffed, continuing to spray water all around the ferns. Louis was very proud of his lustrous looking fern placed above the little cabinet in the bathroom. He was not going to have the usual summer dryness deteriorate his babies. Damn it, not babies, that was such a Harry thing to say. 

 

“Louis, Lou?” Liam was apparently trying to get his attention, waving his hand in Louis’ direction.

 

“What? I’m busy, Li.”   

 

“When are you going to go and tell him?” Liam asked, and Louis finally jumped back onto the floor. 

 

“What are you talking about?” 

 

Liam smirked. “I’m just wondering when you’re going to stop pretending you don’t have feelings for your boy.” 

 

“Stop it, Liam, I already told you, it’s more complicated than that.” Louis sprayed one last time before cleaning the mess he had made and going to his room, Liam hot on his tracks. 

 

“I’m just saying you should go for it, mate. I see how miserable you’ve been recently, and I get it. His tattoos don’t seem to match yours, but you like him, right? He’s perfect for you, he loves plants!” 

 

“Thanks Liam, you’re a fantastic matchmaker. He likes plants, I like plants, you guys would be good together, bam!” Louis mocked. His friend wasn’t helping right now. Louis was more than his plants, okay?

 

“Okay, okay, sorry, you do you and I do me. I’m just saying, the bathroom didn’t need any more plants, and I know that you surround yourself with more of them when you’re upset,” Liam said while leaving his bedroom. 

 

Fuck it. Louis knew Liam was right. But was he ready for this? Was Harry worth not following his destiny and finding his soulmate? 

 

“Oh my god, I’m such a fool,” Louis murmured to himself. Of course Harry was worth it. This and much more, even! He sped towards the front door, putting on the first trainers he could see and opening the door in a hurry.

 

“I’ll be back soon!” He shouted before closing the door behind him and starting to run towards the tube station. He needed to get back to Harry, tell him everything, and hope that Harry wouldn’t laugh in his face for suggesting he forget about his soulmate. 

 

When he finally arrived in front of Harry’s store, he almost ran into the old lady leaving the nursery. He apologised and let her get out of his way before entering and looking for Harry. He found him at the end of the store, giving advice to customers. Yes, the famous Treatment Hour. 

 

Louis started queueing then, hoping that the people in front of him wouldn’t take forever with their problems. Harry seemed to not have seen him yet, focused on his work as always. 

 

When it was finally Louis’ turn, Harry smiled so brightly that both his dimples popped out. 

 

“Hey! What are you doing here?” He opened his arms to hug Louis. “I’m happy to see you, I was actually going to call you and-” 

 

“Wait, Harry, I have something to say first, can we go somewhere a little bit more private?” Louis asked, eyeing the customers behind him who were not so secretly spying on them. Harry looked perplexed but nodded and asked Louis to wait two minutes on the side. Then, he proceeded to tell the people queuing that he would be back in ten minutes, apologising before taking Louis’ hand in his and moving them to the patio.

 

“So, what’s wrong, Lou?” Harry asked once inside, “Is everything alright?” 

 

“Yes, everything is perfect, I just-” He hesitated, smoothing down his shirt. “I just had a realisation, H.” He tried to look convincing, but he was so scared of rejection that Harry was certainly not receiving the right message.

 

“Um, yeah, about what?” 

 

Louis stopped fiddling with his shirt and took Harry’s hands in his. “I don’t care if you’re not my soulmate, I want to try with you, I want to date you and one day, I want to kiss you. I want everything with you, I don’t care about my tattoos anymore.” Louis leaned a little bit closer, intertwining his fingers with Harry’s. “I felt it, H. It’s you. I don’t know why or how, but you’re my soulmate, I’m sure of it.” 

 

Harry was chuckling softly and Louis was taken aback a little bit. That was definitely not what he had hoped for. He retrieved his hands. “I mean, I understand if you don’t want to consider the thought of dating me even though I’m not your soulmate.” Louis said. 

 

“Oh my god, no, Lou, wait!” Harry finally stopped laughing and gripped Louis’ arm. 

 

“No, Harry, I think you made it very clear that I was an idiot to think that,” Louis retorted, ready to leave. This was such a mistake, and it was all Liam’s fault.

 

“Louis, c'mon, look at me!” Harry took Louis’ cheek in his hand. “Louis, look at me, love, I would never mock you, okay?” Harry said sincerely, trying to meet Louis’ gaze. 

 

“So why did you laugh?” Louis pouted, slightly leaning into Harry’s touch. 

 

Harry winked and removed his hand from Louis’ cheek. He proceeded to roll up his sleeve.

 

“Look,” he murmured, tracing his tattoos that were now all moving under his finger.

 

“Harry!” Louis was in awe. Every single one of his tattoos was moving, doing their own thing, just like Louis’. “This is insane!” 

 

“I wanted to call you or come and see you when it started this morning, but work happened and then I thought I would wait until tonight and-” 

 

“Harry, look at mine!” Louis had removed his jacket, and his tattoos seemed really animated now, the heart pumping quickly, the pages of the book flicking so quickly it seemed as if a hurricane was on the verge of happening, and it was the same for every single one. “This is crazy!” 

 

“No, it’s not,” Harry hummed. He was looking straight at Louis now. “You’re my soulmate, you’re my only one. I’m sorry I was so slow to realise.” 

 

“Harry,” Louis started, getting closer and closer. “I really, really want to kiss you right now.” He tucked a lock of hair behind Harry’s ear. “Can I kiss you?” 

 

With rosy cheeks and shiny eyes, Harry nodded, leaning closer and closer, enough to be able to feel Louis’ hot breath on his skin. “Please.” 

 

Louis didn’t wait any longer to close the distance between them and softly kiss Harry’s plump lips. He could feel his heartbeat and the butterflies doing thousand of somersaults in the pit of his stomach. 

 

“I’m so happy I found you,” he murmured, leaning his forehead against Harry’s. 

 

“Kiss me more, please,” Harry replied. 

 

Louis complied happily.  

  
  


END

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Please feel free to leave a comment and/or a kudo! That would make my day! Come say [hello](http://pocketsunshineharry.tumblr.com)?


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